Bill would reinstate Twin Metals’ mineral leases near Boundary Waters, stifle withdrawal enforcement

WASHINGTON Provisions in proposed federal bill would limit enforcement of a mining ban in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and return a pair of mineral leases to a company hoping to open a copper-nickel mine The language included in the U S House of Representatives version of an appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency would bar any money from being spent to enforce the -year moratorium on hard-rock mining on acres of the Superior National Forest and reinstate two key mineral leases to company Twin Metals It comes even as Trump officers say they are taking policies to reverse the mineral withdrawal and reinstate the leases through an administrative process which requires a masses notice and comment period but no congressional approval The Trump administration communicated June its plans to take such approaches a day after Republicans struck language from the massive spending and tax bill that would have ended the withdrawal and returned the leases Solicited if the legislative passage would be faster or less prone to legal challenges than the Trump administration s path U S Rep Pete Stauber R-Minnesota declared all possibilities were being considered After Republicans took back the White House and Congress this past fall I have maintained that all options are on the table to restore key leases and reverse the Biden administration s harmful politically motivated and illegal mineral withdrawal in the Superior National Forest the congressman from Hermantown Minnesota noted in an emailed declaration I will pursue every avenue available to get this done promptly and decisively The House Committee on Appropriations passed the bill July the same day that the Senate Committee on Appropriations passed its Senate companion However the Senate version does not include language related to Twin Metal s mineral leases or the mineral withdrawal Chris Knopf executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness disclosed he s very concerned the language in the appropriations bill could make it into law The assault is coming from really all branches of governing body Knopf commented Unlike administrative actions which can be reversed by a future president laws passed by Congress would require another act of Congress to change The administrative back-and-forth on Twin Metals federal leases and the mineral withdrawal has been going on for more than eight years They were first enacted in the final days of the Obama administration The first Trump administration then reversed those moves but the Biden administration later reinstated them The Biden administration also published an accompanying U S Forest Utility examination that commented hard-rock mining in the Rainy River Watershed could pose an environmental threat to the BWCAW particularly for water quality if the mineral withdrawal was not enacted and mining projects were allowed to proceed Twin Metals owned by Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta is hoping to build a large underground copper-nickel mine and dry-stacked tailings storage facility near Ely Minnesota and along Birch Lake within the Rainy River Watershed and miles from the BWCAW Related Articles The beauty industry loves argan oil But demand and drought are straining Morocco and its trees Damaging golf ball-size hail will fall more frequently because of setting change researchers warn Online creators led by MrBeast and Mark Rober want to raise million for clean water access In a miniature world situation change and environmental issues loom large Canadian wildfire smoke prompts air quality alerts across Minnesota and the Great Lakes region But that would not be achievable if the Biden administration s actions were to stand In a report Twin Metals spokesperson Kathy Graul stated the company remained committed to pursuing the responsible rise of the copper nickel cobalt and platinum group metals materials in northeast Minnesota Twin Metals Minnesota appreciates the champions in Congress that recognize the significance of the domestic mineral information that are available in northeast Minnesota which are urgently needed to accomplish our nation s vitality independence job creation and national safety goals Graul disclosed Lawmakers seek answers In a July letter to Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Democratic representatives from Minnesota Betty McCollum Angie Craig Ilhan Omar and Kelly Morrison urged the cabinet members to set up a meeting with them or respond to their list of questions The letter was also signed by Jared Huffman D-California and Chellie Pingree D-Maine The letter largely took aim at Rollins s June post on X formerly Twitter which released the U S Forest Utility would be initiating the process to reverse the withdrawal After careful review including extensive population input the US Forest Facility has enough information to know the withdrawal was never needed Rollins revealed in the post While there has been extensive society comment during the withdrawal s shifting status over the last eight years the second Trump administration has not yet sought populace comments on reversing the mineral withdrawal s latest iteration Rollins post also misspelled Rainy River The people of Minnesota and Americans nationwide overwhelmingly assistance permanent protection for the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness the lawmakers wrote The use of an inaccurate tweet lacking substantive detail has generated confusion and concern among our constituents who have already provided extensive populace input in encouragement of protecting the Boundary Waters through a mineral withdrawal Luke Bishop a spokesperson for McCollum disclosed the Trump administration acknowledged the letter and intends to send a response in the future USDA did not respond to the News Tribune s request for comment The Department of the Interior declared in an email that while it does not comment on congressional correspondence through the media the Department of the Interior takes all correspondence from Congress seriously and diligently reviews each matter Should there be any updates on this topic we will provide further information at the appropriate time Related Articles Minnesota deer season largely unchanged from Letters Minnesota is missing from the flag Is this why Minnesota State Fair What s new what s changing and what s gone from the Fairgrounds Electronic visiting-application system for state correctional facilities begins Monday Canadian wildfire smoke prompts air quality alerts across Minnesota and the Great Lakes region